Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Danish fixed-income boutique Asgard Asset Management stands out as the sole Nordic hedge fund manager among the nominees for Institutional Investor’s Annual Hedge Fund Industry Awards. Among the list of nominees are some of the world’s largest and most renowned hedge fund managers, including AQR Capital Management, D. E. Shaw Group, Millennium Management, and Citadel, among others.
“Asgard Asset Management’s Institutional Investor nomination within the global hedge fund industry, alongside managers of high caliber, highlights its reputable standing and acknowledgment of its long-standing track record,” Kenny Friis Gade, Deputy CIO at Asgard Asset Management, reflects on the significance of this nomination. “This recognition further underscores Asgard Asset Management’s established expertise and contributions to the industry over time.”
“Asgard Asset Management’s Institutional Investor nomination within the global hedge fund industry, alongside managers of high caliber, highlights its reputable standing and acknowledgment of its long-standing track record.”
Kenny Friis Gade
Asgard Asset Management has been nominated in two of the ten award categories, with each category featuring six nominees. The manager finalists were selected from a pool of nominations submitted by allocators, peers, and other industry professionals, and were identified through independent research conducted by the magazine’s editorial team. The six finalists in each category were determined after a review of supporting documents and additional vetting, supported by data from Bloomberg, BarclayHedge, and proprietary sources.
Institutional asset allocators, including pension funds, endowments, foundations, family offices, and sovereign wealth funds, will vote for the top managers in each category until April 22, 2024. Institutional Investor will announce the winners in each category on InstitutionalInvestor.com on May 1. The winners will also be honored at a special event in Newport, Rhode Island.
Asgard Asset Management has been shortlisted in the “Credit-Focused Hedge Fund Manager” category, as well as the “Most Innovative Hedge Fund Manager” award category. “The nomination should be seen in the context of a US-focused audience, who has much less knowledge about covered bonds and the risk premia associated with this asset class. For a US allocator this is innovative,” Kasper Ullegård, the CEO of Asgard Asset Management, provides additional context for the latter nomination. “Furthermore, the short average maturity and visibility about the expected return sets the strategy apart from other hedge funds,” he elaborates. “Although this risk premium has some correlation to global risk premia, the strategy has unique characteristics and offers investors both excess return and diversification – and has a strong track record of more than 16 years.”
“Although this risk premium has some correlation to global risk premia, the strategy has unique characteristics and offers investors both excess return and diversification – and has a strong track record of more than 16 years.”
Kasper Ullegård
The Danish fixed-income boutique specializes in identifying and capturing risk premiums in interest rate markets to achieve high risk-adjusted and mostly uncorrelated returns. Asgard Asset Management oversees above €1.3 billion in assets across its two fixed-income hedge funds: Asgard Fixed Income Fund and Asgard Fixed Income Risk Premia. Asgard Fixed Income Fund is one of the most decorated hedge funds at the Nordic Hedge Award, sitting on the podium in the “Best Nordic Fixed-Income Hedge Fund” category in nine of the 11 editions of the Nordic Hedge Award and winning the top prize five times. After experiencing single-digit losses in the difficult market conditions of 2022, both funds delivered returns in excess of 20 percent in 2023.